Jackie quickly tapped the record icon again, before the strength left her fingers.

“I’m… Not sure…”

Once again, she used siVis as a support system to force herself on her feet, and even then, still wobbling despite standing proud.

“But given how out of control this thing is getting, it’s not going to be hard to spot it out in the open… “

Despite her head still spinning, a thought occurred to her.

“…And given how this thing works, it actually might be dangerous for any of you to come—” Jackie blinked, feeling the realization sink. “If any of you go in, then you’ll be lost. Trapped in a weird maze… I don’t know…”

Jackie tightened her battered phone.

“I’ll try to stall it—” Jackie affirmed. “I’ll try—I’ll try to help…”

She sent the footage again, and tried to use her siVis-conducted arm to put the phone in her tattered jacket pocket, letting it slump at her side.

Looking forward, the path that was once a neighborhood, a place, a walk for those who lived by, home either by choice or lack of it—was just colorless images.

It was like… The detail. Like the detail of rock, of pavement, of glass, of wood—anything was ripped away and only the impressions were left. Removing the diamond studs from a phone case, taking the posters or boards from a vacated college dorm after four years, peeling away skin. So what was left of the twisted structures—that were once a sidewalk, stores, and bus stop—were naked lumps left behind.

And the scene was beginning to stretch out, before the wounded young woman.

Jackie straightened out her back. She brought up her bandaged-up hands, despite them being torn up, becoming undone… But still held together.

She remembered that advice, she gotten from that strange source all those months ago. Keeping it together, is the main concept of siVis. The first thing one should learn. And the thing that matters more than the enlightenment, the control of the body, and the abilities.

And that was what she did. Breathing.

Her muscles failed to flex, but siVis aided in the action. She couldn’t close her fists, until the pieces defined their structure and forced them to close. Her trembling body stopped shaking, little by little, as the pieces snapped themselves back together. And her legs strikes into a pose, as siVis flares them with much needed life.

Everything is active… Everything is hers again. And everything on the line.

Jackie raced down the elongating street, trying to keep her balance as she wobbles with every brisk step.

She was working against the forces that were pushing her and pulling her—basically running upright up a waterfall. Each step was a stomp, trying to anchor herself somehow by distributing her weight as she tears up the flaking ground.

But it was no use, the street was becoming upright once more, becoming a wall more than a road.

She was forced onto her belly, slamming into the wall-ground. And with that, there was a visceral reaction, as her head turned into violent pieces—unconnecting, popping away, aimless.

“No--!” Jackie slapped herself, as she instantly reformed, her other hand gripping for dear life. “Keep it together…!”

But she was surrounded by nothing. White boarders, white walls, white ground—everywhere she looked. Added with the fact that no where was up, down, left and right. It didn’t matter and it didn’t value her input. She begun sliding down the road, groaning and screaming as she does.

She glanced down and saw what was a mailbox. Newspaper box? Shrunk down bus stop?

Didn’t matter. Launch pad.

She swung herself over, arms out and grappled over the box-structure. Looking around, trying to figure out what to do.

Well, she looked down despite all conventional reason and managed to find this box to hang onto.

A shadow was casted over her once again. Preparing herself, she looked upwards, but didn’t see the prior road flip over her. Glancing both sides, and nothing coming from them either.

Then, she looked down.

The street in it’s entirely was closing up, like a clam, over a straightforward road below.

She had to move.

Letting go, she let herself soar downwards towards the street—the winds blasting against her face as she winced and felt her eyes dry and be pelted by the small pieces within the air.

She curled up into a ball at the last minute, but she impacted the ground, once again laid out on the street and only relatively in one piece because of siVis. Had she been normal, she would’ve died in the car wreck alone. Even she, again despite pressing matters—was at a loss with how that wasn’t as bad as it should’ve been, especially the glass.

No time.

It took her two tries to rise up again, her body was begging her to do it. To stay down. But even as she struggled to get up on two legs, it was two times too late.

Everything was crashing around her, as she stumbled versus ran. Smashes, crackling, scattering. She was absolutely surrounded, as she felt the remnants of the debris coated her in a outer crust along her body. She was physically pushed forward by the wave that was chasing her, as she was practically leaning forward with her arms and legs flailing about feebly.

The dust was starting to cloud the path, all around her. She couldn’t see, she couldn’t take the essential breathes to keep it going, keep it together. She was being buried, running away.

“JACKIE--!”

IMMATERIAL GIRL!

Only Aiko would be able to cause enough noise for Jackie to follow, and it being completely unintentional.

She moved towards the noise and found the headlights of a rent-a-scooter flare.

Jackie hopped on, as the scooter rode itself—as Aiko possessed it, pushing it beyond it’s normal limits. While they managed to outrun the cloud, they couldn’t outrun what was happening from above. Jackie felt the scooter start to fall apart, and then jumped off.

Soon, Jackie and Aiko were running together, the smaller Asian girl gaining more traction as Jackie struggled behind.

“What the actual fuck--?”

Jackie looked over, Maddie just having her leather jacket despite it being still ruined in places.

“How did I get here--?!”

“I COULD ASK THE SAME THING OH MY GOD WHY ARE WE BEING CHASED BY A DUST CLOUD—”

Tracy, turning towards the building crowd, now running with them in a daze.

“Hey guys—”

They turn their heads, seeing River trying to catch up from behind.

“I was—I was here for a minute or so—it was really weird, seeing this play out from afar—”

“Then what happened?!” Maddie yelled.

“It seems like—It seems like the distortions moved the streets we walked on exactly at the same place, leading us into each other—”

“THAT’S… THAT’S REALLY CONVIENT!” Tracy screamed.

“Little bit--!” Maddie answered. “Teeny titty bit--!”

“This… This is practically a miracle, you guys!” Jackie elated.

“We’re about to be fucking crushed by the city itself if this gets worse—You must’ve gotten fucked up real bad, Jackson—” Maddie retorted, but with a playful smirk.

“I did—” Jackie answered back with a smirk of our own.

“Here’s the thing—I’m a mess—and I made you all into a mess—I’ve locked you all into experiencing all of these shit situations and we’re finally gonna get out of it! Out of this funk! We need to attack the buildings—create enough waves so Extant can have enough time to trap it and cancel each other out! All we have to do is out run this falling neighborhood--!”